Hi,
That 80/2.8 prototype is a humongous lens. It's significantly bigger than the 90/2 next to it. Which would make it as big as the 55-200 and possibly bigger.
The length suggests to me that it's an IF macro lens. I can't see an 80mm external focusing macro lens being that long at infinity/off. IF isn't ideal in a way because they tend to lose FL and working distance as you focus closer. I guess we won't know for sure until it gets here. And why a 62mm filter thread? There are plenty of 85/2 and 105/2.8 macro FF lenses with 52mm threads.
I'll have a look at the lens next year, but the sheer size is a personal downer for me. There also isn't a tripod collar as far as I can see. On a lens that big, I think I'd prefer to have it on a collar at high magnifications rather than the whole rig mounted on the XT's rather delicately anchored tripod socket. The alternative is to just keep my CV90 because it's so small and use tubes to get to 1:1. It's MF, but I'd be switching to MF for macro anyway.
Cheers, Rod
Rod, your preference for smaller lenses is well known. I'm sure the threads & posts from you and folks that agree with you over the last year or so had an influence on Fuji's decision to make the F2 primes. And I applaud that.
However, one thing we should keep in mind is that the X-T2 is likely going to broaden the appeal of the Fuji X line. It seems logical that folks who have held back in the past due to performance concerns are now going to seriously look at moving from their DSLRs to Fuji. It also follow IMO that these users are more willing to use larger lenses to get the performance that they want. Time will tell if I am right, but I believe Fuji will have a new "persona" in their user base who will want a different set of trade offs in terms of the size/performance equation.
As for the "big lenses nullify the reason for mirrorless" I don't buy that. For one, coming from FF to Fuji X means the lenses get smaller, even if you buy the largest of Fuji's lenses. Two, even if one is coming from a crop DSLR, it's impossible to shrink a body, but you can transform a Fuji X from big & fast to small & tight by popping on one of the small lenses. You can't do that with a big body. And then there is the fact that Fuji has a lens lineup that is optimized for crop top to bottom, etc. So lots of reasons to switch even if the final total kit weight isn't that much lighter.
Anyway, I hope this doesn't devolve (not from you) into an argument about mirrored vs mirrorless. That's not my intent. But, it will be interesting to see if I a right. If so, I hope Fuji has budgeted for that from an engineering standpoint. Not that there are THAT many holes in Fuji's lineup, but there are a few.
www.fujirumors.com
C'est la vie, I suppose.
